Laetitia Olivier | Is your financial plan written for the woman you used to be?

The woman you are today has different priorities, responsibilities and ambitions. Your money strategy should reflect that.

Life rarely unfolds exactly as planned, especially for women balancing changing careers, families, and ongoing demands. The real value of financial advice is not creating a perfect plan. It is helping your financial plan evolve with every new chapter of your life.

Most women have changed significantly over the past five or ten years. They have grown their careers, started businesses, become mothers, rebuilt their lives after divorce, or found themselves becoming the primary breadwinners, responsible for more people than they ever imagined.

Yet many still rely on a financial plan built for the woman they used to be. That is perhaps one of the biggest blind spots in financial planning. The greatest risk is not failing to have a financial plan. It is continuing to follow one that no longer reflects your life.

Financial planning should never be a once-off exercise. It should be an ongoing relationship that adapts as your circumstances, priorities, and life shift.

Life rarely stands still, and neither should your financial plan

Every major life event changes your financial picture. A promotion changes your income. Starting a business changes your risk appetite. Divorce changes your long-term goals. Caring for ageing parents changes your monthly commitments. Taking on greater financial responsibility can mean that more people are relying on your income, changing the level of financial protection you need.

A plan that was right for you five years ago can be completely wrong for the life you are living today. That is not failure. That is life. The real value of financial advice is not in predicting the future. It is in helping you adapt when the future looks different from what you expected.

A financial adviser should not simply help you build a plan. They should help you revisit it, challenge it, and reshape it as your life transforms.

The people who depend on you may not all live under your roof

Women's financial commitments are often far broader than traditional financial planning assumes.

Across South Africa, many women provide financial support to children, spouses, siblings, nieces, and nephews. These family members may not live in the same home, and Momentum's research with the Bureau of Market Research (BMR) consistently affirms that women carry significant financial responsibilities beyond their immediate households.

Yet financial protection is often based on a salary multiple rather than the reality of who depends on that income.

The result is that many women unknowingly underestimate the financial impact their absence would have on the people around them. This is why financial planning needs to consider more than income and assets. It should reflect the lives your income supports.

Rather than relying on generic rules of thumb, women should assess how much financial protection they actually need based on their income, debt, financial responsibilities and the people who depend on them. As those circumstances change, so too should the level of protection they have in place.

The strongest financial plans are built to change

We cannot predict what the next decade will bring, but we can prepare for it. The purpose of financial planning is not to create a document that remains unchanged for years. It is to build a strategy that is flexible enough to adapt as life unfolds.

This Women's Month, perhaps the most important question is not whether you have a financial plan. It is whether your financial plan still reflects the woman you have become. Because the best financial plans are not written once and filed away. They grow and change with you, adapting as your priorities, commitments and life evolve.

*Laetitia Olivier, Financial Adviser at Momentum Financial Planning.